dcrider1, on 04 March 2010, 18:17, said:
The suggestion is that you implement (an add-on) Search Engine Optimization so that your site URLs look nicer and (maybe) they'll give you a little better ranking in searches.
You're "ready to go live", yet you don't have a server yet?
As for your other questions, SSL certificates are available from a wide variety of sources, including most hosts. There are just a few standard "name" suppliers, and there are usually different levels of insurance protection offered for different prices.
If you are using PayPal or another third party payment system, you can probably get away with a "shared SSL certificate" (usually free) provided by your host. All the credit card information is handled on the PayPal site, so you don't need to be PCI-DSS compliant.
On the other hand, if you insist on handling credit cards yourself, there's a whole shipload of security concerns. You
may be able to find a PCI-compliant host on a shared server, but that's a lot of work. You may have to go to VPS or even dedicated, but even then it's not guaranteed -- you have to do some leg work yourself to make sure it's tested and compliant. Be sure to read all the discussions on this subject on this site (scattered all over the place because people aren't smart enough to look around and find the right place). It looks like you're going to be paying a bunch of money (at your bank's insistence) to have your server checked out.
Since you're running a low margin store, why not at least start out with a third party payment system, and later on (after you've grown big and strong) switch over to a payment gateway/merchant account? Your overall cost will be lower with something like PayPal, until such time as your volume gets fairly large. Then the lower per-transaction fees (but higher fixed costs) will swing in favor of a merchant account. You will also have an idea by then of whether you can afford all the costs of security for your server.
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